Global Exchange
Encyclopedia
Global Exchange is an advocacy group
and non-governmental organization
(NGO), based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group's mission is to promote human rights
and social
, economic, and environmental justice
around the world.
, Kevin Danaher
, Kirsten Moller, and Kathie Klarreich founded Global Exchange. The formation of the organization was rooted in the increasing interdependence of national economies and the subsequent need to build political alliances across national boundaries to protect the economic, social and political rights. Since inception, Global Exchange has reached thousands of members and supporters, through educating the U.S. public about root causes of injustice and the impacts of U.S. government policies and corporate practices. The group builds people-to-people ties, engages grassroots education for action and linking social and environmental movements through public education, speaking tours, experiential travel called Reality Tours and activism.
It works closely alliance with U.S. based and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations). Along with Rainforest Action Network
and the Ruckus Society
, RAN played a central role in organizing the mass actions against the World Trade Organization
(WTO) summit in Seattle in 1999.
It attempts to address a wide range of issues ranging from worker abuse by U.S. companies to the U.S. war in Iraq, to fair trade
issues involving the WTO.
Global Exchange gives Reality Tours to various countries of the world with the stated aim of educating the visitor with the realities of living in different cultures. Global Exchange Reality Tours organizes trips to over 30 countries in Latin America
, Africa
, Asia
and the Middle East
.
In 2001, Global Exchange began producing the Green Festivals
in partnership with Co-Op America, now Green America, across the United States. Green Festivals
bring together fair trade merchants, environmentally responsible and otherwise progressive companies to showcase their goods and services to consumers and environmental and social justice leaders from around the world for weekend long events.
The Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores in San Francisco, Berkeley
, Washington DC and Arlington VA encourages the principles of socially and economically responsible business by selling products according to Fair Trade Federation
standards.
Also in 2001, Global Exchange began an annual Human Rights Award gala.
Global Exchange is a 501c(3) and it’s board of directors includes Walter Turner, Tony Newman, Deborah James, Niki Armacost, Ann Wright
, Allen Gunn and Eric Casher.
The Economic Activism for Palestine project focuses on corporate accountability for human rights and international law violations from companies profiting from the occupation in Palestine
. The program targets corporations that are directly involved in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank – contributing to and perpetuating the restriction of Palestinian basic rights and in the exploitation of Palestinian resources and labor.
The Fair Trade Program works to promote Fair Trade
, end child and forced labor and trafficking in the cocoa industry, as well as educate and empower children and adults to advocate for and purchase Fair Trade
.
The Green Economy Leadership Training (GELT) program implements green economy solutions (home weatherization, establishing urban gardens, etc.) while training individuals in how to build, work and live in a new green economy/clean energy framework. GELT is based in Highland Park – a low-income community in Detroit. Dozens of full-time volunteers work side-by-side with Highland Park community members to put energy efficiency and LEED for Neighborhood Development guidelines into practice, demonstrating what the transition to and opportunities in a clean energy economy look like.
The Mexico Program confronts the rising violence
and unrest resulting from the relationship between criminal enterprises, Mexican power structures and U.S. military aid. The program develops dialogue and effective advocacy toward bi-lateral military policies, gun trafficking, drug policy and democratic reform.
consumption, on November 29, 2006, two protesters from Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network
- Mike Hudema
and Matt Leonard - at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show walked onto a press stage where General Motors
CEO Rick Wagoner
was speaking and tried to get him to sign a pledge making GM the most fuel-efficient car company by 2010. Wagoner refused to sign, saying that he promised just that in his keynote speech.
has claimed that a number of websites such as the Global Exchange, etc., "contain accusations against the WTO which are based on incorrect information or downright falsehoods."
The conservative think tank Capital Research Center
claims that the group was responsible for violent demonstrations at the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle in 1999. It also claims that Global Exchange appears to be spearheading Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
's public relations efforts in the United States by offering reality tours for American tourists in Venezuela
.
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
and non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
(NGO), based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group's mission is to promote human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and social
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
, economic, and environmental justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
around the world.
History
In 1988, Medea BenjaminMedea Benjamin
Medea Benjamin is an American political activist, best known for co-founding Code Pink and, along with her husband, activist and author Kevin Danaher, fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange...
, Kevin Danaher
Kevin Danaher (activist)
Kevin Danaher is an author and anti-globalization activist. With his wife Medea Benjamin and activist Kirsten Irgens-Moller, he co-founded Global Exchange, a social justice and anti-globalization non-governmental organization based in San Francisco, California. He is the founder and executive...
, Kirsten Moller, and Kathie Klarreich founded Global Exchange. The formation of the organization was rooted in the increasing interdependence of national economies and the subsequent need to build political alliances across national boundaries to protect the economic, social and political rights. Since inception, Global Exchange has reached thousands of members and supporters, through educating the U.S. public about root causes of injustice and the impacts of U.S. government policies and corporate practices. The group builds people-to-people ties, engages grassroots education for action and linking social and environmental movements through public education, speaking tours, experiential travel called Reality Tours and activism.
Overview
Global Exchange has worked to increase public awareness of what it feels are the root causes of injustice, by changing the rules across the globe from a profit-centered global economy to thriving people-centered local economies; from the politics of greed to a living democracy that respects the rights of workers and nature; and from currency to community.It works closely alliance with U.S. based and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations). Along with Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, with the financial help of Fund for Wild Nature....
and the Ruckus Society
Ruckus Society
The Ruckus Society is a nonprofit organization that sponsors skill-sharing and direct action training camps for activists from impacted communities working on social justice, human rights, and environmental justice...
, RAN played a central role in organizing the mass actions against the World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
(WTO) summit in Seattle in 1999.
It attempts to address a wide range of issues ranging from worker abuse by U.S. companies to the U.S. war in Iraq, to fair trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
issues involving the WTO.
Global Exchange gives Reality Tours to various countries of the world with the stated aim of educating the visitor with the realities of living in different cultures. Global Exchange Reality Tours organizes trips to over 30 countries in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
In 2001, Global Exchange began producing the Green Festivals
Green Festivals
The Green Festivals are festivals that happen annually in four cities to promote environmentally friendly ideas and products. There are featured speakers as well. Past speakers include: Medea Benjamin, Alice Walker, Amy Goodman, Ralph Nader, Dr...
in partnership with Co-Op America, now Green America, across the United States. Green Festivals
Green Festivals
The Green Festivals are festivals that happen annually in four cities to promote environmentally friendly ideas and products. There are featured speakers as well. Past speakers include: Medea Benjamin, Alice Walker, Amy Goodman, Ralph Nader, Dr...
bring together fair trade merchants, environmentally responsible and otherwise progressive companies to showcase their goods and services to consumers and environmental and social justice leaders from around the world for weekend long events.
The Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores in San Francisco, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, Washington DC and Arlington VA encourages the principles of socially and economically responsible business by selling products according to Fair Trade Federation
Fair Trade Federation
The Fair Trade Federation is a Washington DC-based nonprofit trade association that provides support to and promotes North American businesses that they identify as being fully committed to the principles of fair trade...
standards.
Also in 2001, Global Exchange began an annual Human Rights Award gala.
Global Exchange is a 501c(3) and it’s board of directors includes Walter Turner, Tony Newman, Deborah James, Niki Armacost, Ann Wright
Ann Wright
Mary Ann Wright is a former United States Army colonel and retired official of the U.S. State Department, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in...
, Allen Gunn and Eric Casher.
Activities and Programs
The Community Rights Program assists communities confronted by harmful corporate projects to assert their right to make important decisions that impact them by passing binding laws that place the rights of residents (and nature) above the claimed legal "rights" of corporations.The Economic Activism for Palestine project focuses on corporate accountability for human rights and international law violations from companies profiting from the occupation in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. The program targets corporations that are directly involved in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank – contributing to and perpetuating the restriction of Palestinian basic rights and in the exploitation of Palestinian resources and labor.
The Fair Trade Program works to promote Fair Trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
, end child and forced labor and trafficking in the cocoa industry, as well as educate and empower children and adults to advocate for and purchase Fair Trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
.
The Green Economy Leadership Training (GELT) program implements green economy solutions (home weatherization, establishing urban gardens, etc.) while training individuals in how to build, work and live in a new green economy/clean energy framework. GELT is based in Highland Park – a low-income community in Detroit. Dozens of full-time volunteers work side-by-side with Highland Park community members to put energy efficiency and LEED for Neighborhood Development guidelines into practice, demonstrating what the transition to and opportunities in a clean energy economy look like.
The Mexico Program confronts the rising violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
and unrest resulting from the relationship between criminal enterprises, Mexican power structures and U.S. military aid. The program develops dialogue and effective advocacy toward bi-lateral military policies, gun trafficking, drug policy and democratic reform.
Protest
- As part of their campaign to reduce oilOil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
consumption, on November 29, 2006, two protesters from Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, with the financial help of Fund for Wild Nature....
- Mike Hudema
Mike Hudema
Micheal George Henry ' Hudema is a Canadian activist who has worked for advocacy organizations including Greenpeace, the Rainforest Action Network, Global Exchange, the University of Alberta Students' Union, and the Ruckus Society...
and Matt Leonard - at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show walked onto a press stage where General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
CEO Rick Wagoner
Rick Wagoner
George Richard "Rick" Wagoner, Jr. is an American businessman and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors. Wagoner resigned as Chairman and CEO at General Motors on March 29, 2009, at the request of the White House...
was speaking and tried to get him to sign a pledge making GM the most fuel-efficient car company by 2010. Wagoner refused to sign, saying that he promised just that in his keynote speech.
Criticism
The World Trade OrganizationWorld Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
has claimed that a number of websites such as the Global Exchange, etc., "contain accusations against the WTO which are based on incorrect information or downright falsehoods."
The conservative think tank Capital Research Center
Capital Research Center
Capital Research Center is a conservative non-profit organization located in Washington, DC. It was founded in 1984 by Willa Johnson "to study non-profit organizations, with a special focus on reviving the American traditions of charity, philanthropy, and voluntarism." The group opposes the growth...
claims that the group was responsible for violent demonstrations at the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle in 1999. It also claims that Global Exchange appears to be spearheading Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
's public relations efforts in the United States by offering reality tours for American tourists in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.